Snap Fitness prepping for wider presence in India

US-headquartered health and fitness chain Snap Fitness, which entered the Indian market in 2008 with a centre in Bengaluru, is looking to expand its India footprint to 300 centres in three years.

Snap Fitness, which claims to be among the first to offer 24/7 access to members, along with nutrition and diet counselling, currently operates 60 fitness centres across 11 cities nationwide. It has centres in three formats — 3,000 sq ft, 4,000 sq ft and 5,000 sq ft, and has a user base of 60,000 members.

The chain has introduced two-fitness related products — the International Access Card, which gives members access to any of the 2,500 Snap Fitness centres located in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Mexico and Egypt; and Myzone, a wi-fi enabled area in the centres that allows members to track their workouts and monitor their heart rates via devices.

A free Myzone app allows members to stream and review the activity results from a smartphone, anywhere.

“India was the first country I entered into outside of the US in 2008,” said Peter Taunton, Global CEO and President, Snap Fitness. “While we are growing at a steady pace, we could grow much faster if entrepreneurs who want to be our business partners have access to loans from large banking institutions at fair interest rates.”

It costs ₹1.6 crore to set up a Snap Fitness centre, he explained. “The entrepreneur has to contribute 30 per cent, the rest of the capital has to be raised from banks or other financing institutions, which is not forthcoming,” he added.

In sharp contrast to the situation in India, Australia/NewZealand, a market that the company entered three years after India, already has 230 centres, he pointed out.

The $2-billion fitness and wellness market in India, which is dominated by weight loss and beauty treatment services, is growing at a healthy clip of 25-30, fuelled by rising income levels and changing lifestyles, said Dr Vikram BM, owner of Force Fitness Pvt Ltd, which holds the master franchise for Snap Fitness in India.

Anytime Fitness planning to double number of gyms in India

US-based health and fitness chain Anytime Fitness is planning to double the number of gyms in India to 40 by the year end.

"We have opened 20 units right now and we are projecting to have 20 more by the end of this year. So we would double our size," said Anytime Fitness director of International Operations Eric Keller.

"Apart from Delhi and Mumbai, we are looking at exploring markets in the country to provide world class workout centres in tier 2 cities," he added.

Majorly planning to capture the northern market, the company, which recently opened a new center at North Delhi, is planning to have five centres each in Gurgaon and Delhi. Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore regions would contribute 10, while it is looking to open 10 gyms in Punjab.

"We are coming up majorly in Punjab, where we are looking at centres like Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Chandigarh," Anytime Fitness India managing director Vikas Jain said. The new centres would be mainly franchises, although the company is looking at other models as well.

On being asked about expected network of Anytime Fitness in the coming years, Keller said: "India has potential to have at least 100 of them in next 3-4 years... as franchise is more accepted and demand for our business model is growing, I do not see any reason that we would not have 500 gyms or more in next 15 years."

However, he added that availability of suitable real estate in large cities is a challenge, although growth potential is good for the next 5-10 years.